The temple Jinguji in Matsumoto

Beauty and compassion

Weeping cherry tree at the gate of the temple Jinguji

I had the privilege of visiting this temple, participating in ceremonies there, as well as performing in some concerts.  Records of the founding of the temple no longer exist, but it was a Shingon temple at one time.  Now it is in the Myoshinji branch of the Rinzai Zen tradition.  There are some rather old images and structures, and it is certainly very scenic.  However, the temple's chief priest is certainly one of its biggest assets.  

This flame is said to be from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

The raked garden.  The stairway leads to the hall of Medicine Buddha

Hall of Medicine Buddha

The temple is located in the Asama Onsen area near Matsumoto in Nagano prefecture.  The onsen (hot spring) zone is rather quiet these days--once it was quite lively, with a geisha community as one of the attractions.  Now it is mostly quiet but classy inns that are proud of their bathing facilities. 

There are many temples with the name Jinguji, since the name refers to a certain movement to establish Buddhist temples (ji) joined with 'Shinto' shrines (jingu).  But that was a long time ago.  There is still a shrine near the temple, but otherwise, the temple has nothing 'jingu-ish' about it.  

The covered corridor is the approach to the main hall

Avalokitesvara in the lobby of the multi-purpose hall

The chief priest, Rev Takahashi (usually called 'Jin-san') is devout, open-minded, innovative and especially devoted to nuclear accident-related causes.  Right after the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, he visited that area some 30 times to assist with aid efforts.  He is now working to aid victims and improve government response and regulations after the Fukushima tsunami/nuclear accident.  

In addition to all that, he has a congregation (danka) to care for.  I saw him in action over the weekend.  The main hall of the temple is in the style of a high-class mansion of the old days--in the past, devout nobles would convert their mansions into temples, meaning that the space is usually large, covered with tatami mats, but the ceiling is of a height more suitable for residential use.  The altar in the main hall of Jinguji is dedicated to Shakyamuni.  It is beautiful, but the space not really suited to the needs of the large congregation--more people want to sit in chairs these days, rather than on the matted floor, for one thing.  So Jin-san decided to build a multi-purpose hall.  This was where the events I participated in were held.  The building is pretty much like a school multi-purpose room, except that there are about 35 niches with altars built into the side walls.  They are all identical black shrines with gilded statues inside, so the atmosphere is definitely Buddhist. 

The altar of the main hall

A shrine to the baby Shakyamuni

Worshippers can ladle amacha over the statue

This hall holds up to 300, and we did the same ceremony/event three times, so the total attendance might have been nearly 1000.  The concept was a combined service of the 'Hana Matsuri' (celebration of the birth of Shakyamuni, usually observed on April 8, but a few days later in this case), plus a remembrance of all who passed away in the past year, as well as victims of the Fukushima disaster and the Kobe earthquake.  Two other musicians and I were asked to participate.  The stage setting was simple, but with several large flower arrangements.  There was a crystal basin on a plexiglass stand, with the typical baby Shakyamuni statue (he is standing and waving his hand, able to walk and talk at birth).  The basin is filled with a kind of herbal tea 'amacha' which is poured over the statue with small ladles.  This was set up in front of a projection screen.  The service started with beautiful photos of cherry blossoms (just in season in Matsumoto), accompanied by tsuzumi sounds.  Then, a narrator started to relate the life of Shakyamuni, as Mr. Mikio Tsuji accompanied on his 11-string alto guitar.  Next, the chief priest of another temple did a 'goeika,' a kind of hymn.  She accompanied herself with a small bell and tiny gong.  Then, Jin-san entered and symbolically poured amacha over the Shakyamuni statue.  Next, he did three formal prostrations after first unfolding a ceremonial kneeling cloth.  Then, he dropped some 'shoko' incense chips in his censer and started to recite the Heart Sutra.  He has a very unusual way of doing this, with variations in tempo that emphasize certain meanings.  I joined in with tsuzumi--a rather unusual combination, and then Tsuji-san started with the guitar and Mr. Yoshiharu Karino added his flute.  The other chief priest also joined in the recitation, having practiced with Jin-san before. 

Alcove in our 'green room'

Three musicians in the 'green room'

The bell tower, with another weeping cherry

Finally, the 'Gyate gyate' section was repeated three times with no accompaniment.  Next was the time for the congregation to offer shoko incense while pictures of the deceased were projected, and Jin-san read the names on the symbolic stupas, the 'otoba.'  The service ended with the usual dedication of merit, 'e ko.'  Part two was a mini-concert by the three musicians.  Then, in part three, a survivor of the Fukushima disaster was introduced for an interview.  She has become an activist for both rehabilitation/recovery and monitoring of government responses.

This old traditional building is Kiku no Yu

The bath is decorated with stylized chrysanthemums

Tsuji-san and Karino-san waiting for dinner 

First course: basket of goodies with cherry blossoms

We did the first ceremony on Saturday afternoon.  Then, we went to the 'Kiku no yu' or Chrysanthemum Bath.  It was actually an inn with a bath, and the inns seem to follow this name pattern, always 'The (something) Bath' rather than 'The (something) Inn.'  We had the upstairs dining room reserved, so we left our stuff in the room and went to the ground-level bath.  There was an enclosed garden to enjoy while soaking.  Then we went back upstairs for an incredible multi-course meal.  

The next day, we did the program at 10:00 and 2:00.  We finally left Jinguji around 4:30 or 5:00.  Another remarkable thing about Jinguji is that there is a group of Mongolian refugees that work there.  I wasn't able to find out how they ended up at Jinguji, but they were lucky to have Jin-san sponsoring them.  They worked with a crew of younger Japanese, handling parking, ushering during the service, stage operations, sound and lighting as well as setting up the 300 chairs and putting them away afterward.  Mrs. Jin-san was wonderful, kind and soft-spoken.  She gave us amacha herbal tea to drink, and gave us boxes of pastries to take home.   And to think, they actually paid me to do this.  

(Click on photos to see larger versions)

Flying to the Crescent City

From Music City to the Big Easy

I was surprised by how easily all the Japanese people in our group breezed through airport security. Also, we got very good service on Southwest--when they saw we were all checking in together, they opened another station just for us. We were met in Nawlins by a driver from Tulane University, who was very friendly and ended up lending me his wife's cell phone. Along the way, he pointed out rings on the pillars supporting an overhead highway--water marks left by hurricane Katrina. Other than that, there was really no sign of that great disaster.

We couldn't find any reasonably priced places where we could all stay--thus a cell phone was quite handy, since we had three different locations. The Japanese consul was very helpful in that regard--I stayed in a condo owned by a Japanese expat. It was a great location, on St. Charles, just across the street from the Garden District. I enjoyed riding the St. Charles streetcar line downtown.

As soon as we got to town, we heard that the New Orleans Museum of Art had arranged a TV gig as a promotion for the Japan Festival at the museum. We were supposed to play on an early-morning show, with our bit starting at 5:30 AM!! Well, I was so worried about not waking up that I didn't get much sleep. However, I put on my kimono and waited in front of my building for the communications director of the museum to pick me up at 4:45--she arrived in a Miata convertible. First time I ever rode in a convertible wearing my kimono. The gig went surprisingly well--I played the shamisen, managing to get it tuned up in very short order. The TV show--Good Morning New Orleans--put our segment on line, but I have since lost track of it.

Our first live gig was at Tulane University, in the Rogers Memorial Chapel, not a very big space, but it turned out to be a good size for the crowd, and the space is more square than rectangular, so it had a nice intimate feeling. The high humidity of NOLA was great for my tsuzumi, and the crowd was pleased.

Part of our group was staying on the other side of the French Quarter, so we made the famous Cafe du Monde our meeting place--even if you get lost, everyone knows how to get there. I went by taxi the first time, but then I took the streetcar the next time, which involved a bit of walking to get to Jackson Square. But the atmosphere was great. We had a nice dinner of local food somewhere in the FQ. But I never had a chance to actually order one of the Cafe du Monde's famous beignets. The day we returned to Japan, somebody had brought a leftover one to the airport, so I got to taste one, although not exactly at the peak of freshness.

Our other gig was the Japan Festival at the museum. I took a taxi over there, and was greeted by a taiko group playing in front of the classically-styled museum building (it is in the middle of a nice big park). We were shown to the board of directors room to use as our dressing room. Nice view of the park, and nice works of art for our exclusive enjoyment. The Festival had lots of things to do--a bonsai corner, tea ceremony corner, flower arranging, origami. I talked to some guys from the NO Zen temple--perfect name!

They were conducting meditation sessions in a room at the museum. The temple was related to the lineage of Harada and I told them I had seen the famous statue of Sawaki Kodo (same lineage) at the temple Sengakuji in Tokyo. Anyway, the museum gig was in a small auditorium, with no backstage space--but it was okay, since we were using the directors' room! This was one of our best and also best-received performances. Just getting it down pat as we came to the end of the tour.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of NOLA--when we finished our dinner in the French Quarter, we stepped outside to find an impromptu music group. I saw similar groups throughout the area, all without any electricity! YAY! We also went to a really touristy restaurant and walked around Bourbon Street a bit--I was concerned about the group of five Japanese women, one in kimono, in a boisterous crowd of people carrying drinks around. But it was okay. We made our way to Preservation Hall. There was not too much time left in the set, but we went in anyway, and it was great.

The day before we left was a free day. Part of our group decided to do a boat cruise with lunch. I heard about an ethnic festival in Gretna, across the river, accessible by a free ferry. That sounded worth it, and it turned out the people on the lunch cruise were kinda disappointed by the banal scenery. The free ferry was nice, but right after getting off the boat, you had to pay $15 to enter the festival. Well, it was still cheaper than the lunch cruise. They had oysters--but I am not a fan. I went for a brat on a stick with a microbrew, followed by the famous fried green tomatoes and a crawdad fritter. There was a static display of the last locomotive manufactured in Louisiana, right behind the Gretna city hall. There was also a big sign for a bail bondsman, so I figure the city hall must also be the jail and courthouse.

The next day, our flight back to Japan turned out to be the flight from hell! Thank you Continental Airlines--you failed on both trans-Pacific flights! The return flight was even more egregious--flew for two hours, decided to turn back because of non-functional toilets. Fuel tanks had to be dumped in order to land. The next plane took a couple more hours of waiting, and it was still not completely ready. They gave us very 'generous' compensation--a ticket for a free adult beverage OR 10% off on a duty free purchase of more than $75. Guess what--no alcohol on the plane! Somehow I was not in the mood for a duty free purchase that day. Well, at least we made it back, maybe about six hours late.

The restaurant pic shows my preference for candid shots instead of the 'Hai! Poozu!' type favored by the Japanese. So, my apologies to Wada-san for catching her in the middle of taking a bite!

Some people think the haloed figure in front of Preservation Hall is Amida--but I know that is definitely not true!